By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), reports that 13,575 new COVID-19 cases have been identified in South Africa in the past 24 hours bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases now stands at 1,810,164.
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (62%), followed by Western Cape (11%),North West accounted for 6%; Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga each accounted for 4%; Eastern Cape and Limpopo each accounted for 3%; and Northern Cape accounted for 2% of today’s cases.
NICD said a further 149 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 58,590.
Hospital Admission:
A further 729 hospital admissions have been reported in the past 24 hours and 12,493,891 tests have been conducted to date in both public and private sectors.
Vaccine Update:
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.
Meanwhile SA’s negotiations to secure the Sputnik V and Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines are “at an advanced stage” but, even if millions of doses are secured, they may not be the magic bullet needed to ramp up the rollout.
The Ad5 virus used in making the Sputnik vaccine could pose a risk to uncircumcised men who are living with HIV and, so far, no Sinovac results have been published in a medical journal.
Sputnik V has an efficacy rate of 91.6% when two doses are given, according to a study published in The Lancet in February. This dropped to 79.4% when only one dose was given in a “Sputnik Light” study.
SA Health Products Regulatory Authority chair Prof Helen Rees, said on Friday the organisation and the ministerial advisory committee on vaccines were reviewing the Sputnik vaccine given a possible concern about Ad5 safety for men living with HIV.
In 2007, an HIV vaccine trial was “stopped early because the vaccine made with Ad5 might have increased the risk of getting HIV among men who were uncircumcised”, she said.
On Sputnik, she said: “We do not know if they used a new generation of Ad5 and whether it is a concern or not. The way it is made may be different.
We are working with a World Health Organisation expert committee looking at this and have spoken to the Sputnik manufacturers … it is under review.
“But if we pick up on anything that might be a safety issue, we ask questions and talk with the applicants.”
Developed by the Russian health ministry’s Gamaleya Research Institute, the Sputnik vaccine contains adenoviruses, which cause colds.
The scientists took two types of adenoviruses, Ad26 and Ad5, and manipulated them to invade cells with the coronavirus spike protein gene but not to multiply.
This tricks the body into thinking it has the virus and primes the immune system against Covid-19.
Sputnik V, approved for emergency use by the WHO, is being administered in dozens of countries and has been rolled out in Russia’s mass vaccination campaign. Sputnik Light was approved for emergency use last month.